Movies: reviews, reflections, and things of that nature

Movie Review: Ponyo

The act of simply just watching a Hayao Miyazaki film is an impossibility. It’s always more than that. Complete absorption into his art and total disregard for our real world agendas are what actually occur. His organic animation and rich storytelling take us away to other worlds, empowering our minds with higher truths and memorable imagery; his most recent fairy tale, Ponyo, is unsurprisingly successful in achieving most of these ideals.

Ponyo is about a fish girl who gets rescued by a human boy, Sosuke, after getting trapped in a glass bottle. They both fall in love, causing Ponyo to a fully human body. Yet, her overbearing father from the sea, Fujimoto, thinks this will bring the land and water into imbalance.

Miyazaki’s world in Ponyo is shaped with surreal imagery and adorable colors. The playfulness at hand shows Miyazaki’s penchant for childlike fantasy, but the deeper messages that he conveys are no short of adult oriented. He speaks to us with stunning art and well established relationships.

This film is pure joy and escapism for both children and adults. Its themes aren’t as powerful as Miyazaki’s other films (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away,etc.), but they still hold true. Love has no boundaries. Not even a parent’s grasp can hold down what a child truly loves. Environmental stances are also present in Ponyo like they are in Miyazaki’s other films. His presentation of these ideas is done in a joyful and lighthearted manner that make for a beautiful experience.

Ponyo’s plot structure is unfortunately a bit disjointed in the latter part of the movie. Events and the reasons behind them are sometimes ambiguous, and the division between fantasy and reality are partly cloudy at times. However, this adorable film is still a spectacle of wonder and creatvity.